Islamic State Weapons in Iraq and Syria

Analysis of weapons and ammunition captured from Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria.

This dispatch outlines preliminary findings from an examination of weapons and ammunition captured from Islamic State (IS) forces in Iraq and Syria between mid-June 2014 and early August 2014.

IS forces have been operating in Northern Syria for several months, around Ayn al-Arab (Kobanê in Kurdish) and Ras al-Ayn (Serêkanî in Kurdish). In addition, IS forces have recently launched offensives in Iraq, particularly around Mosul and Sinjar, in the north of the country, close to the Syrian border.

This dispatch is not intended to attribute responsibility for the supply of weapons to IS forces. Rather, it aims to review physical evidence from the weapons captured from IS forces in order to provide a fuller understanding of their types and origins. In the absence of other forms of documentary evidence, it is not yet possible to document the complete chain of custody of the weapons presented in this dispatch.

Conflict Armament Research (CAR) documented weapons deployed by IS forces in Iraq and Syria. The team worked alongside Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which operate primarily in Syria, and Kurdish Regional Government Peshmerga Forces in Iraq, to document captured IS weapons.